Hope Stops Albion Volleyball Rally

Hope Stops Albion Volleyball Rally

HOLLAND, Mich. – Kaitlyn Gilchrist terminated a point and served an ace as Albion College reeled off a 5-0 scoring run to trim Hope College's lead to three points in the fourth set, but the Flying Dutch held on to turn back the Britons in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association volleyball match.

Hope defeated Albion 25-19, 25-11, 14-25, 25-21 on the final night of the first half of the league season.

Albion ends the first half with a 4-4 record against league rivals, leaving it tied with Adrian College, Saint Mary's College and Trine University for third place in the standings. The Britons travel to Trine at 11 a.m. Saturday to begin the second half.

Down two sets, Albion hit .640 with 17 kills against one error in the third. Marie Pregenzer assisted on a pair of blocks and Grace VanDorn served an ace as Albion scored the first three points. Taylor Rosenthal went on to terminate six points and Kelsey Gustafson and Kate Winter added four apiece as Albion pulled away.

The third set got Hope's attention, however, as the Flying Dutch scored nine in a row to surge to a 9-1 lead in the fourth. Hope led 22-14, but the scrappy Albion team would not go away with five points to cut the deficit to 22-19.

Gustafson cracked 14 kills for Albion, falling two shy of her career-high. She added six digs.

Rosenthal finished with 11 kills and two errors in 25 attacks for a .360 hitting percentage.

First-year setter Grace VanDorn contributed 40 assists and 11 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. She and Gilchrist served up four aces apiece.

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